We all know those newspaper segments which feature a previously famous person. And then we read these articles wondering why we have not heard from them for such a long time, and sometimes we may even be surprised to hear that they are still alive. Read more
The Covid-19 outbreak will likely lead to a significant economic recession. The government's pandemic response has rightly prioritised maintaining employment and the ability of firms to recover quickly when the crisis abates. Read more
If the Government’s decision to suspend most of the economy and send most Kiwis home for a month is successful, I will be one of the first to applaud. Covid-19 has cast me in the role of a vulnerable New Zealander. Read more
Wellington, 7 April - The Government’s current wage subsidy scheme may insufficiently protect Kiwis from the worst effects of the Covid-19 crisis, according to a new report from the New Zealand Initiative. Comparing New Zealand with Australia and Canada, the report Relief measures: comparing Covid-19 wage subsidy schemes by Dr David Law shows significant differences between the three in the construction of wage subsidy schemes. Read more
Following the release of his report Short-time work to maintain employment, David Law discusses the benefits of short-time work with Kerre McIver on Newstalk ZB.
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You'd think it would be easy to figure out just what is an essential service when there's need for pandemic lock-downs. Food services and health services obviously make the cut; movie theatres and concerts, not so much. Read more
Our chief editor Nathan Smith is joined by chief economist Dr Eric Crampton and senior fellow Dr Bryce Wilkinson. In this week’s podcast, they discuss whether the Government’s Covid-19 cost-benefit analysis and subsequent lockdown is economically sound. Read more
Professor Sir David Skegg raised the 64-thousand-dollar (or perhaps 64 billion-dollar) question in his testimony before Parliament’s Epidemic Response Committee this week. He asked whether the government had a clear the strategic objective for its unprecedented level-four lockdown. Read more
Yesterday, New Zealand’s biggest magazine publisher Bauer announced it would close its operations. Many well-established magazines including The Listener, North & South and Metro will disappear from the shelves forever. Read more
In a Select Committee this week, then-Police Commissioner Mike Bush expressed his unwillingness to release the “complex” guidelines his officers are using to enforce lockdown. Now, I don’t know about you, but the idea of the police with secret regulations you can’t break doesn’t spark joy in my life. Read more
If New Zealand can’t recover from the economic “heart attack” of self-imposed lockdown, it could face GDP losses at Great Depression levels, according to a New Zealand Initiative research note. While the Covid-19 pandemic has not ruined New Zealand’s economic capabilities, the lockdown has forced the country into an unprecedented productivity pause which the Initiative’s senior fellow Bryce Wilkinson says could slice away about $10,000 per household this year. Read more
Wellington, 3 April - If New Zealand can’t recover from the economic “heart attack” of self-imposed lockdown, it could face GDP losses at Great Depression levels, according to a New Zealand Initiative research note. While the Covid-19 pandemic has not ruined New Zealand’s economic capabilities, the lockdown has forced the country into an unprecedented productivity pause which the Initiative’s senior fellow Bryce Wilkinson says could slice away about $10,000 per household this year. Read more
More than 2000 New Zealand businesses have annual revenues over $80 million. That is the baseline for "tailor-made" assistance that Finance Minister Grant Robertson has promised to provide to larger firms that are suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. Read more
Wellington, 1 April - Rushing to deal with new vaping legislation during an unprecedented economic lockdown is not just folly, it is anti-democratic, according to a public submission by the New Zealand Initiative. While most businesses and public services are shut down as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government has retained its deadline for public submissions about its tabled Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendments Bill, due today. Read more
In any reasonable top-10 list of things the Parliament’s health experts should be working on, the pandemic takes every slot. So why is the Health Select Committee right now working on regulate vaping? Read more